RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond native Arthur Ashe made history in the world of tennis when just shy of his 32nd birthday he became the first African-American man to win Wimbledon.
The historic upset over Jimmy Connors was watched by millions on July 5, 1975.
Ashe's famous statue on Richmond's historic Monument Avenue recently received a sprucing up after former governor Doug Wilder publicly criticized the city for not taking better care of the tribute.
While the tennis great's legacy may be set in stone, it is very much alive on tennis courts across the River City.
"When I get off from work, this is the first thing I want to do -- play tennis," Curtis Wilson said.
Wilson said Ashe is still inspiring African-Americans to play as he played a game of tennis Sunday at Byrd Park -- a place that Ashe would have been banned from because of the color of his skin during segregation.
"He did break some of the tennis color barriers,” Wilson explained.
Sunday marked a major milestone since the native son who attended Maggie Walker High school became a Wimbledon champion.
"He said, ‘Well, it was my dream,” said Thomas Chewning, who was one of Ashe’s childhood friends and former tennis competitors.
The pair was forced to play in secret because of segregation when they were teenagers.
“His father picked me up at his house and took me in his pickup truck over to Brook Field -- and more or less stood guard and watched to make sure nobody disturbed us,” he remembered.
However, Chewning said that none of the titles listed on Ashe's Richmond grave make him an icon, but rather the issues like breaking color barriers, fighting AIDS and helping defeat apartheid in South Africa.
"He used tennis as his platform and his platform was to improve the world,” said Chewning.
Thomas Chewning
Chewning said if anyone wanted to know who Ashe was, just look to his statue on Monument Avenue. The statue features books being held higher than his racket to stress the importance of education. And the children looking up at Ashe serve as a symbol to remind those in public life they have a responsibly to lead.
Chewning said that with all of Ashe's accomplishments, his friend was already a hero even if he had not won that historic Wimbledon match 40 years ago.
